Materials Engineering Research Facility

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Materials Engineering Research Facility exterior

With the Materials Engineering Research Facility’s state-of-the-art labs and equipment, Argonne researchers can safely scale up materials from the research bench for commercial testing.
Photo courtesy Argonne National Laboratory.

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Materials Engineering Research Facility exterior

With the Materials Engineering Research Facility’s state-of-the-art labs and equipment, Argonne researchers can safely scale up materials from the research bench for commercial testing.
Photo courtesy Argonne National Laboratory.

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Materials Engineering Research Facility

Process R and D chemist Trevor Dzwiniel prepares a 20-liter jacked reactor for large-scale preparation of electrolyte materials for lithium-ion batteries. Reactors and other instruments in Argonne’s new Materials Engineering Research Facility produce large quantities of materials for industrial validation.
Photo courtesy Argonne National Laboratory.
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Materials Engineering Research Facility

Experiments can keep researchers on their feet all day long. Process R and D chemist Kris Pupek moves between fume hoods in the Materials Engineering Research Facility’s process research and development lab, while lab-mate Trevor Dzwiniel records data in his notebook.
Photo courtesy Argonne National Laboratory.
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Materials Engineering Research Facility

In the Materials Engineering Research Facility’s process research and development lab, Argonne chemist Trevor Dzwiniel sets up a reaction calorimeter, which precisely measures how much heat a chemical reaction generates. This vital information is used to assess the scalability and safety of a reaction or process.
Photo courtesy Argonne National Laboratory.
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Materials Engineering Research Facility

Chemical purity is a crucial parameter for battery-grade materials. Argonne chemist Kris Pupek loads a sample onto a high-performance liquid chromatography instrument in the Materials Engineering Research Facility’s process research and development lab. This instrument separates and analyzes the components of a sample to measure and identify impurities.
Photo courtesy Argonne National Laboratory.
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Materials Engineering Research Facility

Argonne chemist Kris Pupek adjusts the stirrer speed of a 20-liter reactor in a walk-in hood in the Materials Engineering Research Facility’s process scale-up lab. These reactors are used to prepare large quantities of electrolyte materials for lithium-ion batteries.
Photo courtesy Argonne National Laboratory.
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Materials Engineering Research Facility

Argonne process R and D chemist Kris Pupek records the process parameters off a large filter and dryer unit in Argonne’s Materials Engineering Research Facility. Controlling and adjusting the parameters of pilot-scale reactions lets scientists determine the best conditions for achieving high-quality products.
Photo courtesy Argonne National Laboratory.
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Materials Engineering Research Facility

Argonne material engineer YoungHo Shin prepares a coin cell battery in a glovebox in the Materials Engineering Research Facility. Once it is prepared, the battery can be tested to determine the energy output characteristics of a cathode material for lithium-ion batteries.
Photo courtesy Argonne National Laboratory.
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Materials Engineering Research Facility

Argonne researcher Mike Kras loads a sample into a thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA), which tracks changes in the mass of a sample as a function of temperature and time. The TGA gives characteristic information about the composition of a sample, such as the amounts and thermal behavior of various components.
Photo courtesy Argonne National Laboratory.
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